Note that in Italian there’s often no need to use a subject pronoun such as io (meaning I) or tu (meaning you) because the verb ending makes it clear who is doing the action. However, when you’re talking about people you can use the pronouns lui, lei or loro with the verb for the sake of emphasis or to make things clearer.

Parla italiano lui?

Does he speak Italian?

Lei parla bene inglese, ma lui no.

She speaks good English, but he doesn’t.

Loro non parlano mai.

They never speak.

When you’re talking about things you ALWAYS use the verb by itself, with no pronoun.

If you take the –are ending off the infinitive of a regular verb you get the stem.

You add one of these endings to the stem: –o, –i, –a, –iamo, –ate or –ano.

You only use a pronoun with the verb for emphasis or to be specially clear, but only when talking about people.

2How to make the present simple tense of regular –ere verbs

Verbs that have an infinitive ending in –ere, such as credere, ricevere and ripetere have their own pattern of endings.

To make the present simple tense of regular –ere verbs take off the –ere ending to get the stem and then add the correct ending for the person you’re talking about.

Infinitive

Meaning

Stem (without –ere)

credere

to believe

cred-

ricevere

to receive

ricev-

ripetere

to repeat

ripet-

The io, tu and noi endings you add to the stem of –ere verbs are the same as–are verb endings. The other endings are different.

Here are the present simple endings for regular –ere verbs:

Present simple endings

Present simple of credere

Meaning:to believe

–o

(io) credo

I believe

–i

(tu) credi

you believe

–e

(lui/lei) crede(Lei) crede

he/she believes you believe

–iamo

(noi) crediamo

we believe

–ete

(voi) credete

you believe

–ono

(loro) credono

they believe

Non ci credo.

I don’t believe it.

Credi ai fantasmi?

Do you believe in ghosts?

Lo credono tutti.

They all believe it.

TipWhen you are talking about a male, a female or a thing, or are using Lei as the polite word for you, you use the same verb form.

Note that in Italian there’s often no need to use a subject pronoun such as io (meaning I) or tu (meaning you) because the verb ending makes it clear who is doing the action. However, when you’re talking about people you can use the pronouns lui, lei or loro with the verb for the sake of emphasis or to make things clearer.

Lui non ci crede.

He doesn’t believe it.

Lei crede ai fantasmi, io no.

She believes in ghosts, I don’t.

Loro lo credono tutti.

They all believe it.

When you’re talking about things you ALWAYS use the verb by itself, with no pronoun.

TipRemember that you never use a pronoun in Italian to translate it at the beginning of a sentence.

Dipende.

It depends.

Piove.

It’s raining.

Key points

If you take the –ere ending off the infinitive of a regular verb you get the stem.

You add one of these endings to the stem: –o, –i, –e, –iamo, –ete or –ono.

You only use a pronoun with the verb for emphasis or to be specially clear, but only when talking about people.

3How to make the present simple tense of regular –ire verbs

Most verbs that have an infinitive ending in –ire, such as finire (meaning to finish), pulire (meaning to clean) and capire (meaning to understand) follow one pattern of endings in the present. Some common verbs such as dormire and servire have a different pattern.

To make the present simple tense of all–ire verbs take off the –ire ending to get the stem of the verb.

Infinitive

Meaning

Stem (without –ire)

finire

to finish

fin-

pulire

to clean

pul-

capire

to understand

cap-

dormire

to sleep

dorm-

servire

to serve

serv-

Here are the present simple endings for regular –ire verbs:

Present simple endings

Present simple of finire

Meaning: to finish

–isco

(io) finisco

I finish/am finishing

–isci

(tu) finisci

you finish/are finishing

–isce

(lui/lei) finisce

(Lei) finisce

he/she/it finishes/ is finishing you finish/are finishing

–iamo

(noi) finiamo

we finish/are finishing

–ite

(voi) finite

you finish/are finishing

–iscono

(loro) finiscono

they finish/are finishing

Il film finisce alle dieci.

The film finishes at ten.

Finiscono il lavoro.

They’re finishing the work.

Non pulisco mai la macchina.

I never clean the car.

Preferisci l’altro?

Do you prefer the other one?

Non capiscono.

They don’t understand.

Note that in Italian there’s often no need to use a subject pronoun such as io (meaning I) or tu (meaning you) because the verb ending makes it clear who is doing the action. However, when you’re talking about people you can use the pronouns lui, lei or loro with the verb for the sake of emphasis or to make things clearer.

Lui non pulisce mai la macchina.

He never cleans the car.

Lei mi capisce sempre.

She always understands me.

Loro preferiscono l’altro.

They prefer the other one.

When you’re talking about things you ALWAYS use the verb by itself, with no pronoun.

Il primo treno? – Parte alle cinque.

The first train? It goes at five.

Le lezioni quando finiscono? –

When do lessons finish?

Finiscono alle quattro.

They finish at four.

Some common –ire verbs do not add –isc– to the stem. The most important ones are dormire (meaning to sleep), servire (meaning to serve), aprire (meaning to open), partire (meaning to leave), sentire (meaning to hear) and soffrire (meaning to suffer).

The endings of these verbs are as follows:

Present simple endings

Present simple of dormire

Meaning: to sleep

–o

(io) dormo

I sleep/am sleeping

–i

(tu) dormi

you sleep/are sleeping

–e

(lui/lei) dorme(Lei) dorme

he/she/it sleeps/is sleeping you sleep/are sleeping

–iamo

(noi) dormiamo

we sleep/are sleeping

–ite

(voi) dormite

you sleep/are sleeping

–ono

(loro) dormono

they sleep/are sleeping

Note that these endings are the same as –ere verb endings, except for the second person plural (voi).

Dormo sempre bene.

I always sleep well.

A che cosa serve?

What’s it for?

Quando partite?

When are you leaving?

Soffrono molto.

They are suffering a lot.

TipWhen you are talking about a male, a female or a thing, or are using Lei as the polite word for you, you use the same verb form.

Key points

Take the –ire ending off the infinitive of a regular verb to get the stem.

For most –ire verbs the endings you add to the stem are: –isco, –isci,–isce, –iamo, –ite or –iscono.

A few common –ire verbs add these endings to the stem: –o, –i, –e, –iamo, –ite, –ono.

You only use a pronoun with the verb for emphasis or to be specially clear, but only when talking about people.

4Infinitives that end in –rre

All regular verbs have infinitives ending in –are, -ere, or –ire.

A few common irregular verbs have infinitives ending in –rre. For example:

comporre

to compose

condurre

to lead

porre

to put

produrre

to produce

proporre

to propose

ridurre

to reduce

supporre

to suppose

tradurre

to translate

Here are the present simple forms of comporre

Present simple of

comporre

Meaning: to compose

(io)

compongo

I compose/I am composing

(tu)

componi

you compose/you are composing

(lui/lei)(Lei)

compone

he/she/it composes/is composingyou compose/are composing

(noi)

componiamo

we compose/are composing

(voi)

componete

you compose/are composing

(loro)

compongono

they compose/are composing

Here are the present simple forms of produrre:

Present simple ofprodurre

Meaning: to produce

(io)

produco

I produce/I am producing

(tu)

produci

you produce/you are producing

(lui/lei)(Lei)

produce

he/she/it produces/is producingyou produce/are producing

(noi)

produciamo

we produce/are producing

(voi)

producete

you produce/are producing

(loro)

producono

they produce/are producing

The present tense of all verbs ending in –porre follow the pattern of comporre, and all verbs ending in –durre follow the pattern of produrre.

5Where to put the stress when saying the infinitive

When you say the infinitives of –are and –ire verbs the stress goes on the a, or i of the ending:

Non vuole parlare.

He doesn’t want to speak.

Non riesco a dormire.

I can’t sleep.

When you say the infinitive of most –ere verbs the stress goes on the syllable that comes before the ending.

Devono vendere la casa.

They’ve got to sell their house.

Può ripetere?

Could you repeat that?

However, there are a number of very important irregular –ere verbs which have the stress on the first e of the ending.

6How to make the present simple tense of common irregular verbs

There are many verbs that do not follow the usual patterns. These include some very common and important verbs such as avere (meaning to have), fare (meaning to do or to make) and andare (meaning to go).

For other irregular verbs in the present simple tense, see Verb tables in the middle section.

7How to use the present simple tense in Italian

The present simple tense is often used in Italian in the same way as in English, but there are also some important differences.

As in English, you use the Italian present simple to talk about:

things that are generally true

La frutta fa bene.

Fruit is good for you.

current situations

Vivono in Francia.

They live in France.

what people and things usually do

Litigano sempre.

They always quarrel.

Si blocca spesso.

It often jams.

fixed arrangements

Comincia domani.

It starts tomorrow.

Unlike in English, the Italian present simple is used to talk about:

what is happening right now

Arrivo!

I’m coming!

Non mangi niente.

You’re not eating anything.

what you are going to do

È rotto, lo butto via.

It’s broken, I’m going to throw it away.

Ci penso io.

I’ll see to it.

predictions

Se fai così lo rompi.

If you do that you’ll break it.

offers

Pago io.

I’ll pay.

In English the perfect tense is used to say how long someone has been doing something, or how long something has been happening. In Italian you use da and the present simple tense for this kind of sentence.